LONDONDERRY — Next year they'll be teammates at the University of New Hampshire.

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By STEVE CRAIG

seacoastonline.com

By STEVE CRAIG

Posted Jun. 8, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By STEVE CRAIG
Posted Jun. 8, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

LONDONDERRY — Next year they'll be teammates at the University of New Hampshire.

Saturday at the NHIAA Track and Field Meet of Champions, Portsmouth High School shot putter Nick Ritzo and Winnacunnet 400-meter runner Tommy Harter wrote a perfect final chapter to their in-state high school careers.

Minutes after Harter had won the boys' 400 meters in a personal-best time of 49.59 to hold off Exeter's Christian Leefmans (49.88), the 6-foot-5, 235-pound Ritzo put an exclamation point on his already wrapped up state title.

When his final throw was announced at 54 feet, 3½ inches the crowd around the throwing circle let out a collective cheer.

"That's a PR by about five inches," Ritzo said. "It was good. The last throw of the last meet; it's fun."

In the 400 meters, Harter went out hard and quickly made up the lane stagger on Leefmans, who was to his immediate right. With about 70 meters to go it looked like that strategy might backfire as Leefmans had caught up and Harter's form was breaking down.

"But he wasn't slowing down," Leefmans said.

"I tell you, (Leefmans) is a clutch performer," Harter said. "I felt him coming. I saw him out of the corner of my eye. Honestly this means the world to me right now. I'm still in shock."

The top six finishers in each event are eligible to compete at the New England Championships next Saturday at Bridgewater State University.

Also winning a state title on the boys' side was Winnacunnet senior discus thrower Danny Merchant. A week after barely getting in a legal throw and finishing fourth at the Division I championships, Merchant took the early lead then retook it from Exeter's Brendon Keach to win at 145-06.

Merchant's best throw came just after he ran the anchor leg on the Warriors' third-place 4x100 relay team.

"I had to go run the 4x100 and I came back and he had one inch further than me," Merchant said. "It was that one inch and I said, 'I'm going to get it,' and I whipped out that 145."

The day wasn't all about senior coronations, however.

Oyster River sophomore Dominique Twombly glided past her competitors in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, repeating as the 100-meter champ. Twombly's 100-dash time of 12.19 seconds was just .05 off the state mark set by Angela Johnson of Nashua in 1988.

In the 200 she unseated defending champ Kristen Bourque of Londonderry, winning in 24.98 seconds.

"I just wanted to push to the finish line," Twombly said of her 100 win. "That's what I needed to work on. There were a lot of really good people here. That's why I did so well today. They really pushed me."

The other Seacoast champion on the girls' side was Exeter junior Shannon Murdock with a decisive 11-second win in the girls 1,600, finishing with a time of 5:01.25 — 8.5 seconds faster than her winning time in 2013.

Murdock said that after running to wins in the 1,600 and 3,200 at the Division I meet that Saturday's race was a good "intermediate meet," before New Englands.

"The mile is my favorite race," Murdock said of her decision to skip the 3,200. "It's quick. It's fun to watch."

The meet's only state record was Lebanon freshman Corinne Kennedy's 43.54 clocking in the 300 hurdles. That broke Manchester Central standout Katie Gayman's 1997 record of 43.63 and came at the expense of Division I champ Winnacunnet junior Ann Sheehy, who was second in a personal-best 44.29, despite whacking a hurdle with her left knee midway through the race.

"She ran a state record and I was pretty close," Sheehy said. "I'm stoked."

Other notable efforts included:

Twombly's Oyster River classmate Maegan Doody placing second in the 800 meters in a personal-best time of 2:10.88. The race was won by state record holder, junior Hannah Parker of Coe-Brown in 2:08.42. Doody said she does get a little tired trying to track down the talented Parker but, "I feel it will all pay off, though. She's a great role model. Really the goal this year was just to see how close I could get to her and I'm happy with what I was able to achieve."

Portsmouth senior Abby Salvadore placed second in the javelin with a throw of 122-11 — more than 11 feet further than her Division II winning distance.

PHS sophomore Joey Auger was fourth in the 300 hurdles and part of the Clippers' second-place 4x800 relay with Brian Reaney, Beckley Stearns and Sam Berube that ran 8:05.05 to break a school record set in 1995 by 3.61 seconds.

Winnacunnet junior Ryan Hanley, a first-year outdoor track participant qualified for the New England Championship in four events, placing fifth in the 100, third in the 200 (personal-best 22.70), and running key third legs on the third-place 4x100 with Harter, Merchant and Alec Boucher and the sixth-place 4x400 team of Evan O'Connor, Jake Proudy and Harter. "I always knew I was fast but I didn't know I would be able to compete the way I am," Hanley said.

The strong overall performance by the Winnacunnet boys included a fourth-place personal-best high jump of 6-4 by Alec Boucher.